Little clicked for Josh Allen in a frustrating contest Thursday night versus the Texans.
Yet he came close to willing the Bills to a win before an interception in the last moments ended their hopes in a close defeat.
Allen endured back-to-back tackles for loss on the Bills’ final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
Following a false-start penalty created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s pass at the 9-yard line with under half a minute left.
“We had a chance to win it there at the end,” Allen stated. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defense saved us a couple of times. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four other times. The QB threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay the previous week.
Whenever they pressure our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it’s not a good way to keep our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the first half. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so frequently during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I encountered a couple myself. I need to be more effective at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had two and a half sacks to lead the Texans. His second one came when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson rose and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo played for a second consecutive matchup without wideout Keon Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was earlier held out for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after also being late for a team session.
No change. We are approaching it day by day,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the players that provide the best chance.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Allen was frustrated that the team were unable to make plays down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever scenario and any condition, we need to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
